MARCH 2017 • QUEENS BUSINESS • www.qns.com 3 8 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 9, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Astoria woman’s app lets you fi nd local discounts BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@AngelaMatua One Astoria resident has created an app that encourages people to explore a variety of neighborhood businesses while receiving perks like food or gym classes at a discounted price. Christy Aborn and her business partner Brock James offi cially launched Th e Neighborhood this month. Users who sign up get eight perks a month – they range from appetizers at local restaurants to a yoga class, and each perk has a $15 to $20 value. It costs $20 a month to access the perks and the businesses change every month. Aborn, who lives in Astoria, and James fi rst thought of the idea one year ago. Th ey envisioned it as a local version of Class Pass and began to speak with local companies near their job in the Financial District. At fi rst, the duo handed out booklets with vouchers that could be redeemed at local businesses but realized an app would be easier to monetize and scale. Th e Neighborhood Company was offi - cially launched in Astoria because Aborn, 25, loved the strong community feel of the neighborhood, she said. “Astoria is basically so community driven,” she said. “It would just be great to give back to the community. I’ve never lived in a place that’s so locally driven and everyone is about helping each other.” In March, app users receive a number of perks including an hour of pool and pitcher of beer at Break Bar & Billiards, hair treatment for men or women at Gigi Salon, a beginners class at Yoga Agora, two brunch drinks at Th e Ditty and more. According to Aborn, users who visit each business end up spending three times more than the perk itself. Th e duo also uses targeted marketing and since many of the users live or work in the neighborhood they become repeat customers. Membership will be capped at about 500 people and Aborn hopes to launch the app in a new neighborhood every time The Neighborhood hits that cap. Additional markets will include Williamsburg and DUMBO in Brooklyn and the duo aims to launch in 10 neighborhoods in the next two years. “I’m probably never going to leave this place,” she said. “I loved the feel and the vibe here. Talking to these small business owners, it’s really cool to see the community grow and develop.” To download the app on iTunes or Google Play, visit https://apps.appmachine. com/theneighborhoodastoriany. Mayor, commish talk hate crime spike in Astoria BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] @AngelaMatua THE PADDLING Police brass and Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the 114th Precinct in Astoria on March 1 to provide their monthly update on citywide crime. February marked a new record as the month with the lowest number of serious SPRING INTO SAVINGS! Encore Premium VARILUX PROGRESSIVE LENSES $169 (No-Line Bifocals) w/metal frame.Select frames with clear plastic no-line lenses +/- 4 sph, 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plan packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at location only. Some restrictions apply crimes in the modern comp-stat era. Overall, there were 6,630 index crimes reported for February 2017 compared to 7,339 crimes reported during the same time last year. Even so, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said, at the press conference that the city has recorded 24 hate crimes in 2017, which marks a 55 percent spike since the same time last year. He said 17 of the 24 crimes were anti-Semitic, a 94 percent increase from 2016 in those types of incidents. Chief of Patrol Carlos Gomez also added that the NYPD has increased patrols around Jewish centers and will continue to do so into the Passover holiday. Robberies were down 13.3 percent from the same time last year, rapes were down 21.3 percent and burglaries dropped 13.9 percent. Shootings were also down 35.5 percent, from 62 in February 2017 to 40 last month. Th ere were 20 murders reported in February 2017 compared to 18 last year, which marks an 11.1 percent increase. Police Commissioner James O’Neill and de Blasio attributed the drop in crime to an increased emphasis in community policing. Th e 114th Precinct is one of several that have implemented the Neighborhood Community Offi cer (NCO) program, which assigns offi cers to specifi c sectors so that community members can become acquainted with them. Photo courtesy of NYPD News Police Chief James O’Neill visited Astoria to announce February crime stats. Photo via The Neighborhood The Neighborhood is an app that gives users eight perks a month to redeem at local businesses in Astoria. Q: One summer day, at two in the morning, I was conducting a pre-trip inspection of my subway train, standing inside a car. Out of the blue, a wooden ‘shoe paddle’ fell upon my head. It came from on top of a doorway. Normally, these paddles are kept in their holders, inside the car. Transit records seem to show that three hours prior to the incident, all the paddles were in their holders, and all the doors were free and moving properly. I say that the shoe paddle had been wedged in the doorway by the subcontractor who was working on a modification of the train's communication system. My co-worker says that he saw the shoe paddle wedged there while the subcontractor was doing its work. The subcontractor denies any involvement: its employees claim to have seen transit employees wedge the doors open with a shoe paddle, in the past. A: To establish a case of negligence, it is enough that you show facts and conditions from which the negligence of the subcontractor and the causation of the accident by that negligence may be reasonably inferred. The law does not require that your proof positively exclude every other possible cause of the accident. Rather, you must render any other cause sufficiently unlikely to enable the jury to reach its verdict based upon logical inferences, drawn from the evidence. From what you tell me, it sounds like you can indeed get before the jury with your contention that it was more likely or more reasonable that an employee of the subcontractor placed the paddle in the door than a transit employee. For security purposes, NO backpacks allowed. Random security and bag checks. An activity of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.
QB032017
To see the actual publication please follow the link above